After studying the idea of Social Learning in lecture last Monday, I think that the article regarding if Elle magazine lightened Gabourey Sidibe's skin on their cover helps me further understand how the images we continually see in the mass media are not reality.
Social learning is the idea that users imitate or model attitudes and behaviors observed in the mass media on a regular basis. When media viewers see continual violence, sexual behaviors and examples of stereotypical gender roles over and over again, they begin to imitate the actions they view on various levels. For example, men are continually reminded through the media that in order to be considered "manly" they must be fearless, strong and aggressive. Children who see continual violence on television shows and in movies are more likely to be violent towards other children over time. Women are constantly bombarded by images of light skinned, skinny and tall woman who are supposed to represent what a "beautiful" woman looks like. As a result, women take all sorts of measures to fit that particular image.
This week, Elle Magazine caused gigantic controversy when they put "Precious" actress, Gabourey Sidibe, on their cover. The issue was dedicated to the "Most Notable Women Under 25" and the magazine ran four different covers with four different influential actresses. Three out of the four women chosen for the covers were skinny, white actresses and were pictured from head to toe on the cover. Gabourey Sidibe, on the other hand, is a heavy set, dark skinned, African-American woman. Not only was she the only actress to not have a full body shot on the cover, the color of her skin was significantly lightened. People are outraged with Elle's decision to retouch the color of her skin. One must wonder, what was the reasoning behind the excessive retouching? This article immediately reminded me of the movie we watched in class, "Killing Us Softly 3." The woman in the film directly addressed the issue of race and women in the media. By putting the same type of woman on covers of magazines time after time, the media is sending a message that people who do not resemble that type of woman is not attractive. Elle Magazine made the decision to put a woman who does not fit the stereotypical image of beauty on their magazine cover, but instead of embracing her different look, they drastically changed the way she looks in order to make her resemble the typical image of beauty that they promote. This article definitely helped me further understand the concept of social learning by giving me a current example of how the media promotes one particular image as beautiful, and as a result, women try to change the way they naturally look.
I have attached the link to the article below.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-20016677-10391698.html
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